All my plans for updating our playroom kind of went off the rails this spring when my mom got sick. I was away from home a lot, and when I was at home, I wasn't really in a playroom-design headspace, you know? Still, the room has evolved, with and without my assistance.
Although this room still doesn't quite feel finished or right, it's just a wee bit different from back in the day. Last February, I decided to add some bookcases to flank the piano. Then, in the middle of March, I decided to change up the paint color. In April, I built a little bookshelf dollhouse. In May, though, my mom got sick - aaand that's where I pretty much got stuck. At least, until the last few weeks.
Really, it was Rowan's birthday that got me moving again, for a couple reasons. First, the playroom is mostly designed around what she loves to play with at any given time, and that has definitely changed recently. Between outgrowing old toys and receiving new ones for her birthday, it was high time to swap out the playroom's contents. Second, what's more motivating than having a bunch of guests over, like we did for her birthday party?! I'm telling you, if you're ever in a decorating or cleaning rut, plan a house party.
In anticipation of having people over (even though I'm sure 98% of those people never noticed these changes!), I was finally able to tackle some of the playroom details that had been hanging over my head since May. I organized the shelves, finally found the right bins for the toys (from Target), added pictures to empty frames, and re-hung the wall art - all of which left the room looking as it does today.
Here's a look at the playroom before and after, going clockwise around:
It's so crazy for me to look at these comparison pictures and see how much lighter and brighter everything is! And even though I was a little worried at first that the new bookshelves made the room look too busy, they've grown on me. Plus, you can't beat them in terms of functionality. We could actually fit a lot more toys on here if we needed to; instead, we ran out of toys to store on the new shelves and had to add some fillers.
Here are some close-ups of the new bookcases:
All in all, I'm pretty happy with how it's looking these days! And, more to the point, with how it's functioning. This is Rowan's go-to room. She trashes it multiple times throughout the day, which is good - that means she's using it (or so I tell myself). The bins make it easy (for both her and me) to clean up quickly. I love that there are shelves of toys within her reach, but also shelves that are too high for her, which means I can keep fragile items (decor, CDs, etc.) safe but still in the room. Plus, it's great that there's a wide open space in the center of the room. I usually rotate some bigger toys for that area - a slide, a rocking horse, a play house - and she also just uses it for playing: building train tracks, dumping puzzles out (and occasionally putting them together), or playing doctor with a line-up of baby dolls, multiple Elsas and Annas, and her Spiderman guy.
Here's a source list of the newer items for the nosy folks (like me).
:: RUG: This is the Mohawk Candy Craze rug, which I purchased from Amazon. I'm not sure the large size is available anymore, which is too bad, because it is the perfect playroom rug. Soft, warm, colorful, and cleans up easily (but also hides any stains that might not come out!). I love it.
:: WALLS: This color (Benjamin Moore's Gray Owl) is such an improvement over the gold-toned brown from before. I did love that color, but it was just too dark for the room. Plus, between the rug and the toys on display, it's nice to have a more neutral background. It's not quite the right shade of gray for me (I prefer the gray from her nursery, Benjamin Moore's Abalone), but it's not going anywhere anytime soon.
:: BOOKCASES: All three bookcases in the room are from Ikea. The two tall ones are Billy bookcases, and the lower bookshelf is an Expedit (which is now sold as the Kallax series).
:: WALL ART: The dude on a bike is an Ikea poster in an Ikea frame, and the Emerson quote print is from Etsy, also in an Ikea frame.
As usual, I don't feel like I'm completely finished with this room. There are still some things I'd like to work on. I never added trim or moulding to the bookcases, which would make them look more finished and built in. The lamp on the low bookshelf isn't the right height. I wish the chair covers were gray instead of brown. Honestly, though, those things are way down on my list of priorities these days, so we'll see how the room evolves from here!
